'Reject unkindness,' Ledyard HS principal tells graduates

Anthony Saccone of the Ledyard High School Class of 2013 blows bubbles while waiting for his row to be called to receive their diplomas during the school's Commencement Exercises at Mignault Field in Ledyard on Saturday June 22, 2013.

Ledyard — Rachael Miller advised her fellow Ledyard High School graduates Saturday to "leave no one in dispute about our values and what we stand for."

The graduates' lives may have become more complex since learning lessons from childhood stories, such as "The Little Engine that Could," said Miller, a Ledyard Scholar among the top 10 students in her class.

But like the evident truths of these tales, she encouraged members of the Class of 2013 to define their own values and set high standards.

"As we are launched into the next chapter of our lives, we need to ask: What do we want the moral of our lives to be?" she asked.

Speaker Patricia Webb, a paraprofessional and Braille specialist, looked upon the Class of 2013 eagerly awaiting their diplomas in shiny robes on the high school field and said their palpable excitement mirrored the emotions she saw on their faces during the first day of kindergarten.

"I am constantly impressed by the heart and soul this class possesses," said Webb, who has worked with graduate Michael J. Daggett since kindergarten and has watched the class grow over the past 13 years.

Webb advised them to be kind, generous with their talents and independent thinkers. And though they may never fully understand their impact on the world, she said she hopes they will never forget the fact that: "You matter."

In reflecting upon a quote from Mahatma Gandhi, Principal Amanda O. Fagan told the class to "reject unkindness" and connect to other human beings.

"Follow those waves of truth and love," she said, encouraging them to smile at strangers, listen to others and be themselves.

Class President Kelsey Lee Johnson recounted the graduates' contributions over their high school years, from reading to first-graders to wearing "over-the-top" outfits to school pep rallies.

"Whether or not you know it, you have been an inspiration to me and to each other," she said.

Qiuyin Ren, one of several Ledyard Scholars who spoke Saturday, encouraged the graduates to find hope as they embarked upon their future paths.